The history of a building site in Moscow where Russian rulers since Alexander I have planned, constructed, and destroyed monuments of colossal proportions This book surveys two centuries of Russian history through a succession of ambitious architectural projects designed for a single construction site in central Moscow. Czars, Bolshevik rulers, and contemporary Russian leaders alike have dreamed of glorious monuments to themselves and their ideologies on this site. The history of their efforts reflects the story of the nation itself and its repeated attempts to construct or reconstruct its identity and to repudiate or resuscitate emblems of the past. In the nineteenth century Czar Alexander I began to construct the largest cathedral (and the largest building) in the world at the time. His successor, Nicholas I, changed both the site and the project. Completed by Alexander III, the cathedral was demolished by Stalin in the 1930s to make way for the tallest building in the world, the Palace of Soviets, but that project was ended by the war. During the Khrushchev years the excavation pit was transformed into an outdoor heated swimming pool-the world's largest, of course-and under Yeltsin's direction the pool was replaced with a reconstruction of the destroyed cathedral. The book explores each project intended for this ideologically-charged site and documents with 60 illustrations the grand projects that were built as well as those that were only dreamed.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Yale University Press
ISBN-13
9780300110272
eBay Product ID (ePID)
94897484
Product Key Features
Book Title
The Holy Place: Architecture, Ideology, and History in Russia
Author
Sylvia Hochfield, Konstantin Akinsha, Grigorij Kozlov
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Religious History
Publication Year
2007
Number of Pages
224 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
236mm
Item Width
166mm
Item Weight
512g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
Konstantin Akinsha, Sylvia Hochfield, Grigorij Kozlov